Ravi Tandon's inclination towards philanthropy drove him towards doing something good for the society. He took the responsibility to clean roads and footpaths in the last two years.
Ravi Tandon, a resident of Sector 11 in Dwarka, thoroughly believes in the famous saying – “Where there is a will there is a way” – and he proved it by carrying out ambitious cleaning activities in the city with the help of his organisation “Parmarthi - Ek Prayatna.”
Tandon's inclination towards philanthropy drove him towards doing something good for the society. He took the responsibility to clean roads and footpaths in the last two years.
In his own admission, he got inspiration from the Bollywood star Aamir Khan's highly successful show “Satyamev Jayate.” After wacthing the show, he got fire in his belly and was raring to do something for the society. He thought about initiating sanitation activities with the help of community people.
He said, “I took huge inspiration from Aamir's show and other people who have worked for the society. I chose sanitation as my domain of work and started working working towards it to make the area as beautiful as I could.”
To achieve his objective, Tandon started his organisation “Parmarthi - Ek Prayatna.” He started employing people and kicked off his campaign.
Two years down the line, his organisation has become synonymous to the cleaning and beautification in the area. Many Residents Welfare Associations (RWAs) have taken the help of the organisation to make their society clean. They invite the team for cleaning periodically.
Recalling his very first endeavour, Tandon said, “While going for my daily morning walk at Sector 11, I used to feel bad to see garbage and dirt all around. I thought that as the city has been developed nicely, any little effort can give it a facelift. I was also frustrated with the authorities for not performing their tasks”
“I decided that I will go ahead with my plans to clean the area. I started my journey with “Clean Dwarka” mission in last week of December in 2017 with the help of my organisation “Parmarthi - Ek Prayatna,” he added.
Tandon said that he developed a sustainable model of cleaning. He wanted to show the way to the people in area. Now, the whole city is appreciating their efforts.
“Carrying out a cleaning drive is easy but keeping the area cleaned is a tough ask. So, we decided that we will put continuous efforts in the areas for which we have taken responsibility. You can see that we clean the areas first where we had started work. Only after finishing routine cleaning, we take up work at other sites,” he said.
Their continuous efforts can be seen at the sectors 11, 12, 16, 18, 6, 4 etc. They are not just limited to the cleaning but they also beautify the places creatively. No only they clean the service lanes along the societies but they also make beautiful paintings using colours with messages to protect the environment. They involve kids in carrying out such activities.
Tandon said, “There is no fixed pattern to chose any stretch. We started our mission from Gurdwara of sector 11 and covered almost whole sector till now. Our mission is to clean whole Dwarka.”
Tandon's initiative has also connected the community people to each other and now they are coming forward to contribute to the organisation as there is a need of fund too. RWAs and management in the area have put a donation box too in their premises to support the cause. There is an option of Re 1 donation as well to support the team to boost their morale.
He said, “It is overwhelming that people are supporting us. This is a very positive sign for such mission. I am thankful to them. This is just a beginning and there is a lot to cover. We need support and are thankful for what we are getting from the people.”
Tandon concluded by saying that cleanliness is part of life and everybody should know what to do and what not to do. “As far as cleanliness is concerned, in my opinion, everybody should know about dos and don'ts. I request people to dump their garbage at designated places. People's participation will motivate us,” he said.
